Nadine Dorries's new lover John Butler: why I left my wife

The married lover of Conservative MP Nadine Dorries has claimed it was not his
fault that his marriage ended.

John Butler walked out on his wife shortly after Christmas Day and within days began his affair with Mrs Dorries.

His wife accused the Tory MP of being a “marriage wrecker” who has used her charms to entice her husband away from her.

But last night Mr Butler said his marriage had died before he began his relationship with Mrs Dorries, due to his wife’s drink problems. It was the latest salvo in an increasingly bitter war of words between Mrs Dorries and Mr Butler, and his wife Rachael. His relationship with the MP for Mid-Bedfordshire became public when Mrs Butler spoke of her anger at Mrs Dorries.

Mrs Butler said: “I just want everyone to know that Nadine Dorries is not the saintly person she appears to be. Because she’s an MP people think she’s a pillar of society, but in fact she’s a marriage wrecker. I’m shocked and hurt.

“She shouldn’t have gone after a married man. I just cannot believe she was having an affair with my husband. It just seems to go against decent values. My marriage hasn’t been in good shape for some time. But this doesn’t excuse Nadine for what she did. ”

But speaking to The Sunday Telegraph, Mr Butler, 56, insisted his relationship with Mrs Dorries had begun only after he had left his wife and moved out of the family home in Chipping Camden, Glos, shortly after Christmas. A devout Catholic, Mr Butler still regards what he did as “adultery” – but is adamant he would have left his wife even if he had never met the Tory MP.

He said the final straw came when Mrs Butler, 54, began drinking heavily and passed out on her bed while she was meant to be preparing Christmas lunch for the family. He said: “We couldn’t even have a happy Christmas. She passed out after starting to drink, leaving me and my children to have lunch on our own.”

He added: “I believe strongly in marriage and the marriage vows, despite the fact I’m now an adulterer, and I tried and tried to make my marriage work. But reluctantly and after a long, long time, I decided I had to leave. The children were unhappy and their development was being impacted by what was going on at home.”

Mr Butler added: “Nadine has been a great help. It is early days, but I’m very happy at the moment and enjoying my time with her.”

Last night Mrs Dorries’s three daughters, Philippa, Jennifer and Cassandra, stood united with Mr Butler’s daughters in welcoming the new love. Philippa, 25, said: “I am so pleased that my mum and John are in the very early stages of a relationship. They both care a great deal for each other and we all really hope it lasts. They are both lovely, kind people and deserve every happiness. We five girls are all in full support.”

Friends have emphasised that Mr Butler and Mrs Dorries’s relationship only began after he left his wife, following years of battling to make the marriage work.

Mrs Dorries said: “It is important that people understand that this relationship began following John’s decision to leave his wife and end what appears to be an incredibly destructive marriage.”

Mr Butler’s daughter Lucy, 25, added: “My father has endured 30 years of my mother’s alcoholism and I have not had the love and support of a mother, whilst my father has always been a rock in the lives of my sister and me.

“When my father left home on previous occasions my mother promised to resolve her drinking.

“All our friends and family have been urging him for many years to leave my mother. Because of his beliefs he has remained in an unhappy house and this has affected his health. Finally, my father decided enough was enough and planned to leave, before having a relationship with Nadine, who has been wonderfully supportive of us throughout this impossible time.”

Over Christmas Mr Butler was finally persuaded to move out of the £1 million family home into rented accommodation. He had previously twice left his wife, but his faith compelled him to return and try to make the marriage work. “Over many years, through the children growing up and through into their adulthood, she had a series of alcohol problems. It was very difficult for me and the children,” he said.

“I was juggling a business and trying to look after small children. When I left Rachael, first seven then five years ago, she begged me to come back and promised to get professional help, but she never did. The situation had nothing to do with Nadine.”

One family friend said: “Rachael would start drinking from midmorning onwards and when she drank she became verbally and physically abusive to John and her children. Rachael killed her own marriage, not Nadine.”

Mrs Dorries and the Butlers had been friends for more than a decade, enjoying dinner parties together and once even holidaying together in St Lucia.

Though Mrs Dorries once claimed that her online blog was “70 per cent fiction”, the facts of her life have come increasingly to resemble the plot of a soap opera. A bus driver’s daughter who grew up on a Liverpool council estate, she became a nurse before marrying Paul Dorries, a businessman who ran a copper mine in Zambia. Elected to Parliament in 2005 she was christened the Bridget Jones of Westminster for her appearance and erratic behaviour. Two years later her marriage was at an end, Mr Dorries having apparently given her the ultimatum that it was either him or her career.

She said she would have kept her relationship with Mr Butler private, had she not been forced into the open by Mrs Butler’s accusations. Writing on Twitter, she said: “Hated doing that, but had to defend the kids from horrible lies” and “I would never have discussed but was boxed into a corner”.